The giant stuffed bear, its face a twisted smile, lumbers across the screen. Menacing music swells. Shadows mask unknown threats. Christopher Robin begs for his life. And is that a sledgehammer about to pulverize a minor characterB次元官网网址檚 head?

Thus unfolds the for the 2023 movie B次元官网网址淲innie the Pooh: Blood and Honey,B次元官网网址� a slasher-film riff on A.A. MilneB次元官网网址檚 beloved characters, brought to you by B次元官网网址� the expiration of copyright and the arrival of the classic childrenB次元官网网址檚 novel into the American public domain.

We were already living in an era teeming with remixes and repurposing, fan fictions and mashups. Then began a parade of characters and stories, led by and with many more to follow, marching into the public domain, where anyone can do anything with anything and shape it into a new generation of stories and ideas.

After a two-decade drought brought on by congressional extensions of the copyright period in 1998, works again began entering the public domain B次元官网网址� becoming available for use without licensing or payment B次元官网网址� in 2019. The public began to notice in 2022, when was freed for use as the 95-year copyright period elapsed on the novel that introduced him.

That made possible B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� not to mention a sequel that dropped last month, a forthcoming third and plans for a B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址� of twisted public domain characters including Bambi and Pinocchio. Pooh going public was followed this year by a moment many thought would never come: the copyright expiration on the original version of Mickey Mouse, as he appeared in the 1928 Walt Disney short, B次元官网网址淪teamboat Willie.B次元官网网址�

The mouse and the bear are but the beginning. The heights of 20th century pop culture B次元官网网址� Superman among them B次元官网网址� lie ahead.

Classic characters, new stories, fresh mashups. Will it be all be a bonanza for makers? Are we entering a heyday of cross-generational collaboration or a plummet in intellectual property values as audiences get sick of seeing variations of the same old stories?

Does a murderous Pooh bear have something to show the 21st century entertainment world?

COULD THIS MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE?

Films from HollywoodB次元官网网址檚 early talkie era have started to become public. King Kong, who has one of his enormous feet in the public domain already because of complications between companies that own a piece of him, will shed his remaining chains in 2029. Then, in the 2030s, Superman will soar into the public domain, followed in quick succession by Batman, the Joker and Wonder Woman.

The possibility of new stories is vast. So is the possibility of repetition. Classic stories and characters could get, well a bit tiresome.

B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 feel like itB次元官网网址檚 going to make that big a difference,B次元官网网址� says Phil Johnston, an Oscar nominee who co-wrote DisneyB次元官网网址檚 2011 B次元官网网址淲reck It-RalphB次元官网网址� and co-wrote and co-directed its sequel, 2018B次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淩alph Breaks the Internet.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淟ike, B次元官网网址榃innie the Pooh Blood and HoneyB次元官网网址� was was a novelty, made a bit of a splash, I guess. But if someone makes B次元官网网址楽teamboat WillieB次元官网网址� (into) a jet ski movie or something, who cares?B次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淚f thereB次元官网网址檚 some great new idea behind it, maybe. But thereB次元官网网址檚 nothing IB次元官网网址檓 looking at where IB次元官网网址檓 thinking, B次元官网网址極h, my God, now that B次元官网网址橳he Jazz SingerB次元官网网址� is available, IB次元官网网址檓 going to redo that.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�

Many creators were clearly anxious to do something with B次元官网网址淭he Great Gatsby,B次元官网网址� which has been subject to several reinterpretations in very different flavors since it became public in 2021, says Jennifer Jenkins, a professor of law and .

B次元官网网址淲e have our feminist retellings of `The Great GatsbyB次元官网网址�, where from her perspective, Daisy gets to tell the story from her perspective,B次元官网网址� Jenkins says. B次元官网网址淲e got prequels, we got sequels, weB次元官网网址檝e got musicals, TV shows, weB次元官网网址檝e got because we always do. These are things that you can do with public domain work. These are things that you can do with with Mickey Mouse.B次元官网网址�

But the newly available works and characters are arriving after years of parent corporations demanding that every creation be tied to their intellectual property. And with some big, B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址�-sized exceptions, the returns are growing thinner, and artists themselves are a little sick of it.

B次元官网网址淭he biggest limiting factor right now is that almost everything that anyone wants is has to be from existing IP,B次元官网网址� says Johnston, whose newest project is an animated adaptation of Roald DahlB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淭he TwitsB次元官网网址� for Netflix. B次元官网网址滱nd that that the notion of an original idea is somehow scary, certainly to a marketing entity, because they just have to work harder to get it into the publicB次元官网网址檚 consciousness. ThatB次元官网网址檚 the bummer.B次元官网网址�

And while Shakespeare, Dickens and Austen have been public-domain gold mines at various times, other properties have proven more problematic. The forthcoming B次元官网网址� ,B次元官网网址� starring and Cynthia Erivo, will be yet another attempt at using the public-domain work of author Frank BaumB次元官网网址檚 Oz B次元官网网址� filtered through a hit novel and Broadway show B次元官网网址� to glom onto the classic status of the 1939 B次元官网网址淲izard of OzB次元官网网址� film. Previous tries led to little success, and most were outright flops, most recently 2013B次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淥z the Great and Powerful,B次元官网网址� from Disney.

(In an odd quirk of the B次元官网网址淲izard of OzB次元官网网址� rights, the filmB次元官网网址檚 most famous artifact, DorothyB次元官网网址檚 , are still the intellectual property of MGM via the 1939 film. In BaumB次元官网网址檚 book, the shoes were silver.)

IN THE BEGINNING, DISNEY LED THE WAY WITH PUBLIC DOMAIN SUCCESS

Some of the most effective use ever of public domain properties came from Disney itself in its early decades, turning time-tested folktales and novels into modern classics with B次元官网网址淪now White,B次元官网网址� B次元官网网址淧inocchioB次元官网网址� and B次元官网网址淐inderella.B次元官网网址� It would later become the primary protector of the most valuable rights in entertainment, from the Marvel universe to the Star Wars galaxy to its homegrown content.

That has meant a major flowering through the years of fan art and fan fiction, with which the company has a mixed relationship.

B次元官网网址淲hen you look at how the Disney organization actually engages with fan art, thereB次元官网网址檚 a lot of looking the other way,B次元官网网址� says , an author and activist who advocates for broader public ownership of works. B次元官网网址淚 always thought that there was so much opportunity for collaboration that was being missed there.B次元官网网址�

He gives as an example binders full of fan-fiction biographies of the ghosts at Disney WorldB次元官网网址檚 Haunted Mansion, maintained by the teens who work there, which he observed when working on a project with the companyB次元官网网址檚 so-called Imagineers.

B次元官网网址淪ome of it actually is now part of the lore,B次元官网网址� Doctorow says. B次元官网网址淚 think that creatively that is an organization that really embraces that. I think commercially itB次元官网网址檚 an organization that has really struggled with it.B次元官网网址�

When the law extending copyright by 20 years passed in 1998, musicians including Bob Dylan were among the key figures who had implored Congress to act. Younger generations of musicians, who came up awash in sampling and remixing, made no discernible outcry for another extension. In part this could be because in the streaming era, many of them make little off recorded music.

Jimmy Tamborello, who records and performs electronic music under the name Dntel and as part of The Postal Service B次元官网网址� a group whose very name caused trademark headaches with the official version at its inception B次元官网网址� says artists are generally happy to allow others to turn their work into new things. The problem is companies that come between them, and get most of the financial benefit.

B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 always a corporation involved,B次元官网网址� Tamborello says. B次元官网网址淚 think no one would care if it was just artists to artists. I feel like it would be nice if it was more open, more free. It seems like it has more to do with respecting the original work.B次元官网网址�

He says it was B次元官网网址渞eally excitingB次元官网网址� when the rapper used his hook from The Postal ServiceB次元官网网址檚 best known song, B次元官网网址淪uch Great HeightsB次元官网网址� on a track released on YouTube and Soundcloud even before he made the proper legal arrangements to use it on an album.

Johnston says age and experience have made him feel less possessive about his own work.

B次元官网网址淓arlier in my career, everything was an affront. Everything made me angry and like, B次元官网网址楾hat was that was my idea! I should have had credit for that!B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� he says. B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 want to say IB次元官网网址檓 just easy and breezy about it, but I think there are so few truly original ideas. B次元官网网址�. We all kind of will have similar thoughts at a certain point. So it doesnB次元官网网址檛 particularly bother me.B次元官网网址�

His attitude changes if the re-maker is not an artist but . That was a key issue in last yearB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址� and is yet another facet of remix culture that, alongside copyright expirations, could change the faces of some of historyB次元官网网址檚 most renowned characters in ways no one has ever considered.

B次元官网网址淚f a writer feels for me, itB次元官网网址檚 fine,B次元官网网址� Johnston says. B次元官网网址淚f an AI steals from me, that sucks.B次元官网网址�

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